| The last Mofones show -- a report from Mike |
[30 Oct 2005|11:41pm] |
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Last night the Mofones played their final show, at Gooski's. Now that it's over, it's starting to set in. What drove it home was that, about 30 minutes ago, I went down to my basement to put some laundry in the washer and there was a lot of wide open space in the room since there weren't any instruments down there. (Mine were still upstairs and need to be taken down, but still.....) The basement's been empty like that before, but it was kind of like the sign that things were over.
But enough of the sad stuff. The show was a lot of fun. Kate was there and she and her lady Leah kept yelling out that various members of the band "made her hot." It seemed like every song had a little bit of shtick that we did before we started it.
I was dressed -- at least in theory -- as Mama Cass. It might've been hard to tell except for the ham sandwich (MADE WITH REAL HAM!) that was scotch taped to my necklace. But I had a long wig on that stayed in my face (and sometimes in my mouth) throughout the set. It made me feel like I was in a little box. I could see through it, but it was just weird having these obstructions where I normally don't have any.
We ended with "A Little Lather," which seemed appropriate because it was our closest thing to a hit. One song before that we did "Out of the Circumference" and it really got we wound up and feeling good. It almost made me wish that we had put it earlier in the set. But nevertheless the rest of the set went well. And we opened with a version of "I Put a Spell On You" that Mama sang and where Aimee played bassoon and I played drums.
We had CDs there but they weren't put together (no covers on them) so we didn't sell any. And there I was busting my hump to get them burned :p Oh well, now I get all the profits for any sold!! Ha HA! Just kidding.
By the time the Fearnots went on I was really really excited and ready to play more. The evening started of tragically for Hille because her guitar (in the case) fell over the headstock broke off. It was horrible. I would've freaked but Hille took it well. She borrowed Bridget's guitar and played well with it. I think we played a really good set. I stuck my head under David's one gong-y cymbal during the first song. It's mounted high and, at the last show, I couldn't hear it. So under it, my head went and ...........BLANG! I heard it.
After the show, we reconvened at my place with a few guests and we ate goodies. Luckily since there was daylight savings time again, I didn't stay up as late as I normally would have. That is to say, I had an extra hour of sleep.
Tomorrow I think I'll post some photos from the show.
If you were, thanks for coming.
xoxo
-mike
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| Memorial, busy next couple of days |
[26 Oct 2005|12:50am] |
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The owner of the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern passed away last week. His name was Stan Frankowski, but apparantly he was better known as Sluggo or Stas. I always thought his nickname was Stush or Stoosh. I didn't know him as well as I know his sons, most notably Steve, who is a helluva guy. His brother Karl is nice too. There's a memorial for him on Saturday morning, followed by something at the BBT. If only I didn't have to work that day, I'd be there, paying my respects. Wish I could. But I might be going to a show there on Friday night, so I can offer condolences if Steve or Karl are there. Stan was rather cantankerous and opinionated but he was one of those people who, when the chips are down, really cared for people. We need people like that, but I don't know if the world churns them out anymore.
Tomorrow night I have practice with the Living Praise Choir. In case you don't know, it's not really a choir, it's a band. I've played with them off and on for about a year and a half. I think it was right around this time last year that they put out their CD. We're playing on WRCT on November 3. Not sure what time, maybe around 8 or so. Rob Rayshich has rejoined the fold, so now there are 4 in the group. It sounds good. Kind of GBV-ish.
Then on Thursday the Mofones are practicing for the big show on Saturday. I'm looking forward to the show because it's going to be fun playing. Maybe because I know that it's going to be the final show, it'll be a chance to pour a little extra something into the performance to make it memorable. We're not going to do a set that covers the whole history of the band, but there will be some tunes that go back several years in the set.
I called Kate about the show the other night, but she already knew about it, which is cool because it means the word is getting around. I also called Grant, but he wasn't home. I wish he could come for the show. Hell, I wish he'd come back just to go record shopping or drink coffee with me. I miss that guy.
By the way, to amend some info from the last entry, the show is actually starting at more like 11 - unless you're one of those people who think shows always start 30 minutes later than advertised and plan your arrival that way. In which case, the show is starting at 10:30. And the cover is $4.
I keep thinking of stuff everyday that would make a good entry here, but I'm forgetting it all now. Within a couple weeks recently, I wrote 11 CD reviews for JazzTimes. It was exciting. I doubt they'll all run in the same issue, but that'd be something if they did. Oh wait, maybe that's scary. Hmmmmmm.
I think I'm going to listen to Patty Waters now. Have you ever heard her?
-mike
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| Mofones are breaking up |
[14 Oct 2005|03:45pm] |
We decided this last night at practice.
But this dissolution will be effervescent, like Alka Seltzer or Efferdent. This quality will be especially evident at our last show on the 29th at Gooski's, Halloween weekend.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
The Mofones
at Gooski's, 3117 Brereton St.
Pittsburgh, Polish Hill. 412-681-1658
9 pm. $5. 21+
with The Fear Nots (playing second)
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| A few hours after playing on WRCT |
[20 Sep 2005|01:07am] |
Tonight the Mofones played live on CMU's radio station, WRCT-FM. maybe I should've posted an entry earlier to let people know about it. Any could listen in since the station also broadcasts on their website.
OH well.
It went well. I just listened to the first song and a half and while the mix was a little rough, I think the whole shebang was pretty inspired. This was the first Mofones live activity since the spring. There were a few new-ISH songs in there. I had two. Well, I think we've been playing "The Last One" since last summer. "Dear John" is still relatively new.
I have a new 15" speaker to use with my amp since I've blown out the 10" speaker twice already. And this new speaker is pretty badass. Last night the Fearnots played a show and the bass was so heavy it was making my water bottle vibrate on stage. Tonight it wasn't as intense as that, but the bass was pretty strong, at least in my ears. The guys from WRCT were swell. They fed us food from the Co-op, which was delish.
Now it's time for some shut-eye.
-mike
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| All aboard the Tijuana Taxi |
[04 Jul 2005|12:35am] |
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I just got the new CD reissue of Herb Alpert's Going Places in the mail a few days ago. This was an album I played to death as a kid. And I do have a vinyl version of it. But I reviewed the first spate of Alpert/Tijuana Brass reissues for both JazzTimes and a local paper, so I got a promo of this, along with the next 2 TJB reissues (they're coming out in groups of 3 at a time).
IT SOUNDS GREAT!!
I mean, I've listened to this album a skidillion times and there are instruments (mostly percussive) I'm hearing for the first time. And i'm listening on a crappy boombox at the moment.
PLUS, this is still a great album. I mean you can call it instrumental fluff, but the arrangements are so cool. Who'd'a thunk of doing an upbeat version of the Tommy Dorsey tearjerker I'm Getting Sentimental Over you? The Ventures' Walk Don't Run? Kicks some serious butt. That guitar at the beginning sounds like a force to be reckoned with. And of course Tijuana Taxi and Spanish Flea....very through things beyond Mama Cass can't cheer me up.
I recommend you buy this disc if you don't have it already. OR, go to Jerry's and buy 2 copies from him. I know he has them. You can probably find it in stereo and mono. Wow.........they should've put both mixes on this disc. It's only 30 minutes and change.
-mike
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| Space trucking, but only in 1st gear |
[12 Jun 2005|11:37pm] |
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Last night Deep Purple played at the Rib Fest and I went to see them with Will and Greg from the Hope-Harveys. It was only $5 to get in, and we just happened to score freebies from a friend who got them at the Pixies show a few nights earlier. Will and I have been talking about DP since jan. 1 when I pulled out Machine Head and put it on the turntable. I also got out Deep Purple In Rock, which I think I might've listened to once since I got it (A friend gave it to me). ACtually I think I kept falling asleep while it was on. Anyhow it f****ing rawks. Child In Time is the best hard rockin' 10:15 you can spend -- that is if you dig Bolero-like riffs and a lot of falsetto wails.
So I was really stoked to see this band again for a mere $5. I saw them in 1996, give or take a year, and they blew me away. Ritchie Blackmore wasn't with them, but it was the classic lineup. I was a little puzzled when I looked at the organ player. He looked really young compared to how he looked 9 years ago. Grecian formula? Clean living? "I don't know if that's Jon Lord," I told Will. "No he left the band a year or two ago." I was crushed. Jon Lord was -- if I may be a little corny -- my favorite member of the band. Perhaps because I was a keyboard player when I was in my Purple phase or maybe because he was such a driving force. Now the chorus of the first song was hard to take ("I may be dumb but I ain't stooopid!!") but this bugged me. For awhile.
Then they did a lot of new stuff. Blackmore replacement Steve Morse did a solo that was all heavy metal powerballad-like. the Lord replace did a solo that included the Simpsons theme.
After 45 minutes they FINALLY dug into Machine Head. Now here's the thing: in '96 they played Pictures of Home, a really really deep cut and that impressed me, along with their opening with Hush. Last night, it was Space Trucking, Highway Star and that ol favorite Smoke on the Water. Oh sure they did Lazy as an encore along with Hush which was totally bad ass. But the show was more a showcase of new songs and it gave them a chance to show off, moreso than a chance to rawk.
Overall, I had a good time. It wasn't like when I saw Steppenwolf and the new songs came after every other oldie, and I left before they finished. But I miss Jon Lord.
-m
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| Shanley-DeFoe strike(s) again |
[06 Jun 2005|12:48am] |
Aimee and I are going to play at the Blue RUin Gallery in Pittsburgh on Thursday, June 16. I'm excited. We didn't plan on doing another show, but we can't say no. But why am I telling you? Nobody ever reads this thing or replies to it. I'll try to write stuff more often.
Just got back a few hours ago from seeing a free jazz show. It was pianist Bobby Few and tenor/soprano saxophonist Avram Fefer. They were great. They were late, too, but that was okay. Bobby once played with Albert Ayler and Steve Lacy. They played for about an hour and it was cool they way they blended traditional stuff and took it into outer space too.
-m
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| playing catch-up |
[01 Jun 2005|11:53pm] |
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Drank a coffee at 10 pm and while I don't want to spend 2 hours online I figured I should write an entry. After all the Fearnots played on Saturday and it's now Wednesday and I haven't said anything. I would like to always do an entry anytime I play, whether or not it's Mofones-related.
But first, I should mention that Shanley-DeFoe got asked to play ANOTHER show. And it wasn't by Manny. Or someone who was at the last show for that matter. It's from another gallery owner. Aimee & I are getting together tomorrow night so we'll have to figure it out.
So last Saturday, the Fearnots played at Quiet Storm. It had the potential to be a coming-out show of sorts. There was a really nice, well-written article by my former office buddy/second banana/all around swell person, which appeared in an alt-weekly. You always hope that press like that will draw folks out, and apparantely at least one person there came on the basis of the write-up. He came up and talked to Hille after our set.
The first band was 54 Sq-Ft. Trampoline, who were from Montreal. They were a study in understatement. Quiet and gentle, to the point where I wanted to shake them and say, "come on, make noise! Rock out!" Then they did. They did this piece that had a solid wall of noise in the middle. The drummer had a lap top that transmitted sounds over top of everything. It included phone calls in French.
We played next. I guess you could say it was a good set. But I was deaf after the first song. Too damn close to that goddam crash cymbal. And the ride cymbal. It hurt. And I couldn't get my amp to a good level. If it hadn't been at hip level, that might've helped. Maybe a distance of a few feet. I almost thought that me and Hille should've been on the floor and left the riser to David, but that wouldn't have gone over well. Maybe next time I'll stand on the other side of the stage.
But peeps were into I guess.
The next band was called Setting SUn. They're from NY via San Francisco. I met their drummer Erica before our set. She seemed cool. And the band really was. Gary the guitar player writes really cool pop songs. Good hooks and - as I found out after buying their CD -- he writes good lyrics too. They put me a good mood. I told them they should come back and play with the Mofones. I wrote him an email today. I wonder if he'll write back.
-mike
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| Dispatch on Shanley-DeFoe show |
[26 May 2005|01:23am] |
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Tonight me and Aimee played a duo show at Garfield Artworks. The whole Mofones couldn't do it and we were both itching to play, so I asked what she'd think of doing the show this way. She said sure, so we set about crafting a mini-set. I had a slight panic when I thought my amp had died again. It's been acting funny since the last Fearnots show and it DID die at our debut. Turns out the cable wasn't plugged in all the way.
For the first song, Aimee played bassoon. We did a Charles Mingus piece called "Canon." I borrowed the arrangement idea from a Mingus tribute disc from 1992. It's a lot of drones underneath the melody that's played as a round (canon). So I set my Casio droning, started the melody on fuzz bass and Aimee echoed it. After playing it a few times, we sort of went into space and then I read an excerpt from Mingus' book, just like the Mingus tribute - again. It went pretty well. It was a bold thing but we pulled it off. After that Aimee played Fender Rhodes. Not my 200 lb Rhodes but her 125 lb one. She practiced on mine though, which was the first time I tried it since the basement flood back in Sept. Next song we did Aimee's "The Semi-Dark Crush Museum" - a newer Mofones tune - "Bzzt" - one of her Mystery Date tunes. I sang Barbara Manning's "Sympathy Wreath." Aimee did another Mofones song, "Oval Orbit." Then I wrapped it up with two songs of love and desire: Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and my own "The Last One." I played the Buckley song at the Emmett Otter show but I wanted to go back and try it for real. Having the Rhodes helped and I think I sang on key.
The crowd was small but supportive. Among the people there was my old friend Nikki from the InPgh days. She split sometime between out set and the time we were done. Maybe she wasn't into it.
Biirdie was the headliner. They're from California and -god, she probably hates this -- the keyboard player is Fred Savage's sister. They were really really great. Good songs. All 5 people singing at once. Getting Manny up onstage to help cover a Townes Van Zandt song. Go figure. I wanted to buy a CD but I'm broke till Friday.
A newer local band called Workshop played. THey were fun. Kinda strummy Galaxie 500 with more emotion.
I hope the Mofones practice next week.
-mike
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| 5505 |
[05 May 2005|10:06am] |
Tonight Shanley's playing in the Night of Fives with the Hope Harveys
http://www.hopeharveys.com
Thu. May 5
(5/5/05)
The Night of Fives!
Garfield Artworks
Pittsburgh
w/Telefonics (Erie), Manny Theiner Experience, The Gothees, The Bumps
xo, Mama
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| squeeze me |
[27 Apr 2005|02:46pm] |
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I'm listening to Squeeze, one of my first musical loves...and one of the few early musical loves that I still appreciate.
It's a live album - and today, I am struck by a few things.
Great pop songs.
Several songs I can imagine being sung by Johnny Cash.
I am amazed at how this band managed to get audiences to sing multi-part harmonies along with the band.
Too bad VH1 couldn't convince them to reunite....
-NSB, taking a break from the job that pays the bills
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| waxing poetic n'at |
[21 Apr 2005|09:40pm] |
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Filibuster busters are running around screaming holy terror about activist judges and religion and waah waah waah we want to always get our own way, so look out minority party we have a moral mandate... We're going nuclear.
Don't know what the hey I'm talking about?
Go to this website and figure it out. Please.
http://www.pfaw.org/
Then do something about it.
Thanks.
-nsb
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| Mike's past few days. |
[13 Apr 2005|12:29am] |
I'm listening to rough mixes of the 4 songs the Fearnots recorded over the weekend. Hille (guitar/vocals, in case you aren't sure) recorded her vocals on Sunday, the day after she, David (drummer) and I layed down the basic tracks. I went into the studio tonight to record my vocal on one song. We were supposed to play on the air at WPTS-FM at Pitt, but me mates were feeling under the weather and weren't up for it. So I took the free time opportunity to record my vocal. For a rough mix it sounds pretty good so far.
Last night, the Mofones played the rally for mayoral candidate Bill Peduto. I think we did a good set. It was great to be out and playing again. Getting us onstage was good. Developer, who opened the show was fun too. And Mama did a good cabaret set after our set. But....there weren't many people there. A few choice friends came for us and another person or 2 that we knew, but it was a little disappointing. Peduto didn't show up, which in a way wasn't surprised. he's busy. He's got to figure how to net this election.
So it's been a busy couple of music days for this peep. Going back another day, to Sunday, we had Mofones practice to get ready for the show. And then the day before that, as mentioned above, the Fearnots were in the studio. I had hoped we would be in there during the day, but we couldn't start making a racket until 5 p.m. David and Hille had already set their equipment up, so it was down to me. Once we did that, we got a decent take of the first song, took a dinner break, came back and blasted through all 4 songs, and then decided to redo all of them. That was cool because the final takes were the best. But I didn't get out of there until past midnight. I was whupped and had to be at work at 7 the next day.
The studio always makes me feel uncomfortable. Odd, since I've recorded a lot. But the pressure of getting it right the first time, even though you can redo it and it's not big deal............stress. But this wasn't so bad. Kinda fun actually. Maybe the Mofones will want to record. Who knows.
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| Mike sounds off |
[11 Apr 2005|11:28am] |
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"Brothers and sisters, I want to see a sea of hands out there. Lemme see a sea of hands. I want everyone to kick up some noise. I wanna hear some revolution out there, brothers. Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and everyone of you to decide whether you are gonna be the problem or whether you are gonna be the solution ("That's right"). You must choose, brothers, you must choose. It takes five seconds, five seconds of decision, five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet. It takes five seconds to realize that it's time to move. It's time to get down with it. Brothers, it's time to testify and I want to know, ARE YOU READY TO TESTIFY? (Crowd screams)ARE YOU READY TO TESTIFY? I give you a testimonial......the MC5....."
The fire and brimstone -- or should I say fire and drug -- intro kicks off the MC5's first album "Kick Out the Jams." I've always kind of melt that the album doesn't quite live up to all the hype it's gained over the years. Listening to it today, it might be because it's not recorded in a way that captured the band's supposed frenzy. You can't see them tearing it up. Besides, we've got the Modey Lemon these days to rile us up.
But anyhow, that's not the point. The point is I've always dug that intro. When I was a dj in college doing a jazz show, there were a couple times that I played it and cut it off before he says "The MC5," and put on a slow, really spiritual version of David Murray playing "Amazing Grace" on bass clarinet. (I played it once just as we went to war in Iraq the first time, and the other time was on Clinton's first election day; one outta two ain't bad I guess).
Kick Out the Jams was recorded around 1968 right when Vietnam was a big problem and young people were rebelling. The MC5 and there, uh, advisor John Sinclair, didn't have the most progressive ideas at stake. While they were leading the revolution, their "girls" were at home making dinner for them, or something like that. "Free women" was one of the things Sinclair talked about. Thank God the women's movement was sprouting up concurrently.
But let's get idealistic for a moment. Say you DO realize your purpose here on the planet. Start small. You'd like to see some change in local government. You tell a friend. Friend says, "hmm, sounds cool, let's find out more and tell more people." They tell people, who tell more [I'll avoid that "and they told two friends cliche" because too many people use it] and then all of a sudden you have a movement on your hands. Or a revolution. Or maybe even a zeitgeist. Wait, I should really look that up to make sure I'm using it correctly [Mike steps away from the computer a minute]...okay. "the spirit of the times," or def 2, "the trend of thought or feeling of the period." So I guess you don't start a zeitgeist, you just sort of look back in retrospect and say "wow, that was the zeitgeist."
So Bill Peduto is a mayoral candidate in Pittsburgh. He supports arts in Pittsburgh, has an idea of how to get the city back on track. I hope a lot of people will take advantage of this opportunity to get a guy in office who can relate to the needs and desires of people in town who feel like they don't fit into the beer 'n' Steelers way of living.
The Mofones are playing a benefit for People for Peduto tonight at Club cafe. It starts at 7:30 and we're sharing the bill with Developer and with our singer Mama, who's doing her first cabaret show in a while.
Come be part of the revolution.
Oh yeah, in my ideal mind, our set would start with Dave Mansueto getting the crowd riled up with that intro from the MC5. But that's not going to happen. We have a Peduto campaign song in the works too, but it's not ready.
-mike
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| dispatch from Sunday practice- MIKE |
[22 Mar 2005|10:49am] |
What happens when the Mofones switch instruments at practice? Bedlam ensues! Bedlam, I tell ya. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We don't usually practice on weekend afternoons, mainly due to schedule conflicts, but two days ago things worked out for the best and we all convened in the practice space. I've had a burst of inspiration lately and came up with a few song ideas. I think it can be attributed to listening to Dogbowl's "Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain" album, which came out on Shimmy-Disc around 1991 or so. It's got a lot of really catchy but also really twisted and often tragic/sad songs on it. In other words right up my alley. Well, in addition to the 2 song ideas I have in me head (which are still there, not on paper yet), I came across something that I wrote I don't know how long ago. It's written on the back of a band newsletter that dates back almost 10 years, so my guess is it comes from Mystery Date days. Maybe early Mofones. I came up with a line that serves as both a coda and a title, PLay it Wrong. So I brought it into practice and it was the first thing we worked on, which is also unusual. Usually we warm up with an oldie. A couple days earlier I bought Capt. Beefheart's Safe As Milk album and was reminded of how John French had this ability to use his whole kit in a way that didn't sound flashy; it was strictly economical. Aimee said, "you'll have to play that for me," after I suggested playing the whole kit in one part and making it sound intentionally clunky. No, I said, play it the way you think it should be. I love when I take something from another source and it becomes something completely new in the hands of the band. Bridget started playing something cool that I had in my head, but hadn't described to her. She's a natural for coming up with stuff that way. And Mama added some cool textures, including what will be a good ending, I think.
Then we started playing Aimee's latest song "The Semi-Dark Crush Museum." She wasn't too sure about drumming and singing, so Mama sat down behind the drum kit and Aimee took over on the keys (she wrote it on the piano anyway). Mama kept a steady beat I'll tell ya what. Then Aimee wanted to play guitar and Bridget moved to bass and I moved to keys. We were playing something but I'm not sure what. Then I moved to drums. We started playing Punk Rock Girl then, which was an a capella song in our hands during the Kate days. Well, we did it once: at Phat Man Dee and Tommy's anniversary show. I don't know what to do behind the drums anymore, except maybe play a Ringo beat. That's it. Or do some Art Blakey drum trick that I know.
We've never had a practice like that which digressed into goofiness, so it was cool that it happened. We currently don't have the pressure of an impending show hanging over our heads so it was cool to cut loose.
I have the day off today so I need to make sure I spend my time wisely. There's a load of laundry going now and then I'll get in the shower. My CD player is fixed so we'll get to have CD tunes in the skinny room and kitchen again. And I can burn discs again. Not that I do it alot otherwise. Tonight I'm practicing with the Hope-Harveys for the Night of Fives show. We got together on Sunday after the Mofones practice. It'll be good to get more sax playing in because I start loosing my lip before too long if only play once every 9 months. And I played it last on New Year's Eve in the parade downtown. This'll help. I hope.
-mike
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[21 Mar 2005|04:36pm] |
Today I added some new old pictures of us Mofones to the website. One page of pictures is from last June! At least they're up now: http://www.mamarama.net/mofonepics.htm
Yesterday at Mofones practice, I PLAYED THE DRUMS. Wow it was fun. Never did that before, but plan to do it again and again.
Okthxbye, Mama
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| Mike's to-do list |
[17 Mar 2005|12:00pm] |
I always feel like I've wasted away a good chunk of time even when that "wasted" time was spent doing something productive, like balancing the check book. "That's fine, but you still haven't showered yet. And it's a shaving day. And you have to leave for work in an hour and ahalf." Geez, what can I do in 90 minutes? A lot actually.
Last night I went out and I think I got some song ideas in my head. Sketch things, like how I want them to sound. I like starting with the abstract and building on that, getting people's input. We're practicing on Sunday, so we'll see where me head is by then.
I looked at the pictures of us and my bass always seems so flat in them. Maybe it's just the angle I don't know. Hell, what is it supposed to look like, I should ask. I don't wear it low like some yutz who only plays the E string. And I don't cradle it like some "studied" dude who's ready for Branson or joining Toto (the latter being one of my biggest associations with trained bass guitar players: looking like they belong in some slick band.) I once saw James Chance & the Contortions about 10 years ago - James was a mover and shaker in the No Wave scene in late 70s New York, i.e. an abrasive noisy dude - and he had these guys with him that looked like some lounge band. And sure enough, the bass player had long hair pulled back in a ponytail, parted hair....square, square, sqaure. Oh yeah: he had a 6 string bass. Now that's all well and good but do you need these extra 2 strings for atonal, white guy uptight funk? The Contortions liked to straddle the slick nightclub/CBGBs dichotomy, I guess, but it just seemed like they fell a little too close to the slick side then.
Oh I know: I told the band I was going to take the chords to an old song, speed em up and use all the unused lyrics in my book for them. Now I have a project. But first shower, then dishes maybe.
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| post-gig depression |
[06 Mar 2005|10:26am] |
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When I logged onto the LJ today, I was a little shocked at all the pictures. Didn't know they were added. And it's a little alarming seeing a row of Mike Shanleys (aka me) staring back at me.
Re: the subject of the email. It's often the way I've felt after a really great show. It's not chronic depression or anything bad - lest any of my mates wonder, since the point of my previous post was taken the wrong way - what p-gd refers to is the wish that the good feelings from the show weren't ending. Wishing we were playing again tonight. Or next week maybe. No- tonight. Yeah, I wish were playing again tonight. The show was great. Let me explain.
By about 8:45, after we had loaded in, got coffee, said yo to openers Teen Riot, I finally asked Jill from Quiet Storm where the soundman was. Turns out the guy who has done for us only works on Saturdays and since tonight was Friday no one knew what was going on. But good ol' Jill got on the phone, talked to one of the guys who works there, and things got started on time. Hell, early. Teen Riot was ready and eager to go at 9:30. They played about an hour and it was a good time. 3 chord garage stuff with a lot of energy. Of course Sean Lally was their guitar player, so the energy had to be there. I worked the door during their set. That meant I got to sort of greet people on the way in, which is cool. A flock of my co-workers showed up, including some that only really know in passing, and see when I'm checking out. Ted asked at work that morning if I was ready and how he was going to be there -- and he was good on his word, bringing a couple other folks with him. And of course my buddies from the dept were there too. As I was leaving work, I ran into AMy who bartends at Gooski's and she got all interested and said she'd definitely be there. Usually that means the person has a 50/50 chance of showing up. But she came through too, so, per her request, I dedicated a song to her. [I don't do that for just anyone, but her word of honor seemed to deserve it} Why I picked Posthumous Stardom....well I don't know. If I had dedicated The Last One to her, she might've gotten the wrong idea.
We had a 17 song setlist. 17. I haven't played that many songs in a set in YEARS. That's long. Oh well. It's been 6 months. We had a lot to say. Which reminds me, the between-song banter was almost as long as some of the songs (at least as long as Cat Butler), which at times I thought might've detracted from the set (some of it seemed like in jokes that only us would get; some audience members said as much) but if I said anything it would have interupted the flow.
The set lasted about 75 minutes I think. Oh yeah, somebody in the audience wanted to her "Dean" which wasn't on the list. I think it was Kate, our ex drummer, who showed up in the audience. It was nice to her again.
Other hightlights: Aimee's new song "THe Semi-Dark Crush Museum" which has this New Pornographers lilt to it that I always strive for; four singers at once there and on a couple other songs. Another boost: a person I didn't recognize came up during Teen Riot's set and said, "Is that the Mofones?" and when I said no she seemed glad that she hadn't missed us. It's nice when strangers are interested in your music.
So, now do you see why I felt the depression yesterday? I didn't want to go to work. I wanted to rock more. Today I'm okay, especially considering that I have a viewing to go to.
Time for more gigs. Maybe more songs.
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| Mofones Practice Minutes from 3/2/05 |
[04 Mar 2005|12:46pm] |
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mood |
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Submitted for your review and amusement, here are the Mofones practice minutes from 3/2/05 - or more accurately, pre-practice minutes with a few during-practice minutes thrown in for good measure.
Random note taker: NSB
Mofones In Attendance: Ike, Evil, Mama (and the aforementioned NSB)
A few Mofolactics - found - not yet expired! Chocolate-flavored!
Should Mofolactics be archived? Used? Tasted? Given away?
Sustain pedal - found.
Hidey hole mentioned.
Silver jacket?
New bra, smaller than expected (how odd).
This isn't math rock!
Ike disappeared.
Ike came back.
SET LIST!
(contents are top secret - you must go to the Quiet Storm at 9:00 p.m. TODAY to find out the Mofones set list)
Can Mofones wear green?(after Labor Day, but before St. Patrick's Day?)
We look all Irish.
Spelling Bees for Dirty words. Irish curse words?
Mofones are 0.27 Irish or something like that (remember, this isn't math rock)
Kitten mugs - Mama's has a feather, call it macaroni.
Hairballs discussed.
"Doong Doong Doong Doon-da-doong doong" sung. (by Evil, I think)
Orville is Oval Orbit.
Mama drinks cough syrup because we make her cry.
WILD BOYS!
OUI or WAY?
MoBones?
Evil needs to email Mama.
All New Yorkers should go see Mama at the Knitting Factory in NYC on April 1, 2005.
"Doogie Howser was the world's first blogger" - Jayfro? (forgive me for most likely mis-referencing this quote - your humble note taker was confused at the time)
Please read Mode.
Mama is in her Frickin' clothes.
Aimee got her hairs cut.
Why won't the Trib pan the Mofones!?!?
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